Digital Security Lessons From Home Protection Experts

Recent years have seen numerous major security breaches, compromising financial information and other personal data held by companies ranging from Home Depot to Forbes. Such breaches can have long lasting effects on the identity security of individuals affected by the data leak and they also harm the reputations of targeted companies in the long term.

Luckily, there are many steps that websites can take to protect their data. Additionally, by looking at strategies for home protection, companies can also adapt more traditional security techniques, creating innovative hybrid security practices.

Here are two home security strategies you can make your own with a little ingenuity.

Use Multi-Layered Protections

One characteristic of an effective security system is that it functions on multiple levels, even when you look at a single device. Take fire alarms as an example. A fire alarm that goes off in the home is no longer considered to be an adequate form of protection. New fire alarms are networked so that they contact the nearest fire department when a problem is detected. Your website protections should work similarly, going beyond alerts to action.

There are several ways you can double up on security for your website. Firewalls are generally considered the best first line of defense for your website. And while firewalls are still an integral part of security strategy, skilled hackers can easily get through them.

What you need to enhance this security is an alert system that tells you when an unfamiliar device or IP address accesses your website. From there it should ask for additional, external confirmation – via text message or email – stating that you know who is accessing the site or that you want to approve this new user. You are your own fire department in this case and you can investigate any alerts you receive.

Don’t Over-Share

One of the most common mistakes homeowners make in this era of social media is broadcasting their every move. They post when they’re going on vacation and or share their daily schedule, including when they’re not home. They may even announce when they get a new security system and what kind it is because they assume that the people they’re sharing this information with are trustworthy friends. What these individuals don’t account for is the fact that even people they don’t intentionally share info with can see things they write online.

A similar situation arises for companies large and small in the wake of a data breach. Often, these sites will issue a statement about how they are improving their security efforts. And while a general statement that further measures are being taken would be adequate, too many companies make the mistake of describing whom they are employing to assist with this or other information about their improvements. This opens them up to further security breaches.

Don’t share information about your security updates beyond stating that you are working to improve them – and even then, only make a public statement of this kind after breach. Otherwise, as no one is asking about them, you should simply make the improvements without mention. You should also alert employees that any information shared within the company is confidential and enforce consequences if they breach that confidentiality.

Ingenuity And Security

If you’re interested in improving your website’s security, the best thing you can do is be creative. Don’t solely read literature about website security, but branch out and consider the ways you’re an adaptor and improvise using security tips from other fields. Good ideas can be found anywhere – you just have to be willing to reimagine them to fit your company’s needs.